How Statistics Help Youth Soccer Parents

he primary goal of youth sports is development. And even though most parents claim development as their primary objective, they usually define success in terms of winning, because it is the only thing they can measure. This is why soccer statistics are so important! Statistics help parents re-define how they measure success with their kids and allow them to start measuring what matters - development! We have seen statistics change how parents interact with their kids and dramatically improve the youth sports experience. Here are a few of the benefits we see most often for soccer parents.

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Redefine Success: We often hear parents lament over how much stress and anxiety they feel before, during, and after their kids sporting events.  Why are parents more stressed than their kids? Because they are measuring success by the outcome of the game. Winning is NOT the goal! Performing and improving is the goal and winning is sometimes a result.  Meaningful statistics for every game help parents shift the focus with their kids to what they did well each game, and what they can work on which are both things that they can control. Statistics help parents re-define success!

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Help Your Child Improve & Have Fun:  Your kids have fun when they are improving and getting better but it’s hard to know exactly what you can do to help them improve. Now you can know! Meaningful statistics every game allow you to collaborate with the coach and your child about meaningful goals and activities that will help your player improve faster. And as kids improve, they enjoy the game more!

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Improve Accountability: As parents, we are all guilty of either overly pampering or being overly critical with our children. This is not helpful for their development and enjoyment of the game. Meaningful statistics help parents see the reality of where their kids are excelling so they can give them praise.  Stats also help parents remove the rose-colored glasses and realize where kids are struggling so they can work with them and help them improve.  Additionally, stats create a framework of accountability for kids and coaches as well.

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Assure Recognition: Is the coach not recognizing your kid for his or her performance on the field? Maybe, maybe not.  Maybe you are wearing rose-colored glasses. Maybe the coach is playing favorites. Stats help remove the ambiguity of performance and create an environment that helps your kids get recognized for their performance, hard work, and improvement. This is something every parent wants to see.

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Communicate More Easily: Communicating with coaches and your kids about performance and playing time is often difficult and awkward because emotions come into play and opinions about what is actually happening on the field can differ widely.  Having real data after each game creates a natural fact-based environment that makes these conversations with players and coaches feel easy.

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If you are a soccer parent and are not using statistics to help create a fun, positive, and meaningful environment for your child to progress and love the game, you’re missing out. One person on a team with a mobile phone can capture stats for every player, every game. Improve your soccer experience every week by downloading the Ollie app for free to get started today.

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